Brain biopsy

As one of the leading causes of global mortality and morbidity, various neurological diseases cause social and economic burdens. Despite significant advances in the treatment of neurological diseases, establishing a proper disease model, especially for degenerative and infectious diseases, remains a major challenging issue. For long, mice were the model of choice but suffered from serious drawbacks of differences in anatomical and functional aspects of the nervous system. Furthermore, the collection of post-mortem brain tissues limits their usage in cultured cell lines...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Primary CNS vasculitis (PCNSV) is a rare inflammatory disorder that affects the blood vessels of the central nervous system (CNS). We aimed to analyze the neurological presentations, clinical follow-up, and long-term outcomes of patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of medical records to assess the neurological presentation, rate of remission, and functional status at the last follow-up in patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis seen in our center in the last 13 years (2010-2023)...

Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the nervous system in recent centuries, and the incidence rate of glioma is increasing year by year. Its invasive growth and malignant biological behaviors make it one of the most challenging malignant tumors. Maximizing the resection range (EOR) while minimizing the impact on normal brain tissue is crucial for patient prognosis. Changes in metabolites produced by tumor cells and their microenvironments might be important indicators. As a powerful spectroscopic technique, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has many advantages, including ultra-high sensitivity, high specificity, and non-invasive features, which allow SERS technology to be widely applied in biomedicine, especially in the differential diagnosis of malignant tumor tissues...

Many opportunistic infections (OIs) seen early in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic receded in prevalence with the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Despite the availability of early detection and treatment of HIV as well as guidelines for near-universal screening, there remains a sizable population of individuals living with HIV who are not yet aware of their HIV status. These individuals are at risk for OIs such as toxoplasmosis, which would otherwise be preventable with ART and appropriate prophylaxis...

BACKGROUND: Nocardiosis is primarily an opportunistic infection affecting immunocompromised individuals, with a predilection for the lungs, brain, or skin in those with compromised immune function. Granulomatous hepatitis caused by Nocardia is a rare clinical manifestation. This study aims to provide a systematic overview of the clinical features of Nocardiosis caused by Nocardia farcinica, enhancing our understanding of this disease. METHODS: We report a case of a 75-year-old male with no underlying diseases presenting with a history of "recurrent fever for more than 4 months", along with fatigue, poor appetite, and pleural and abdominal effusion...

Objective: To investigate the safety and accuracy of CT-guided intracranial puncture biopsy and the possible influencing factors of postoperative bleeding complications. Methods: A case series study. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 101 patients who underwent CT-guided intracranial puncture biopsy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2017 to December 2021. The basic data of patients and the safety and accuracy of CT-guided intracranial puncture biopsy were analyzed statistically...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical diagnosis and treatment of tumefactive multiple sclerosis (TMS). METHODS: Clinical data, laboratory and imaging examinations, and treatment of three patients with TMS were retrospectively analyzed. Data were further analyzed in relation to the literature. RESULTS: All three patients had acute or subacute onset with large lesions on imaging, which were difficult to differentiate from tumors. Two cases had relapses on follow-up and one case had a stereotactic biopsy...

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) extend the survival of glioblastoma (GBM) patients by interfering with a broad range of tumor cellular processes. Among these, TTFields disrupt primary cilia stability on GBM cells. Here we asked if concomitant treatment of TTFields with other agents that interfere with GBM ciliogenesis further suppress GBM cell proliferation in vitro. Aurora kinase A (AURKA) promotes both cilia disassembly and GBM growth. Inhibitors of AURKA, such as Alisertib, inhibit cilia disassembly and increase ciliary frequency in various cell types...

A 58-year-old female was found to have hyperferritinemia (Serum ferritin:1683 ng/mL) during work-up for mild normocytic anemia. Transferrin saturation(TSAT) was low-normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abdomen showed evidence of hepatic iron deposition. Liver biopsy showed 4 + hepatic iron deposition without any evidence of steatosis or fibrosis. Quantitative liver iron was elevated at 348.3 µmol/g dry liver weight [Reference range(RR): 3-33 µmol/g dry liver weight]. She was presumptively diagnosed with tissue iron overload, cause uncertain...

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether uptake on 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG) PET could help differentiate HER2-positive from HER2-negative breast cancer brain metastases. METHODS: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study of a cohort of 14 histologically proven breast cancer brain metastases, we analyzed both preoperative 18 F-FDG PET/CT and HER2 status of the resected/biopsied brain specimens. The maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of the lesions were normalized to contralateral normal white matter and compared using Mann-Whitney U tests...

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation is a rare encephalopathy characterized by inflammation against amyloid protein accumulated in cerebral small vessels. A 50-year-old man was presented with a subacute consciousness disorder. Brain MRI revealed high intensity lesions in the white matter of the right parietal and occipital lobes on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences and cerebral microbleeds in the right parietal and occipital lobes on T2*-weighted images. Pittsburgh compound B-PET demonstrated accumulation in the right temporoparietal lobe, confirming a potential diagnosis of probable cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation without brain biopsy...

UNLABELLED: TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is an RNA binding protein that accumulates as aggregates in the central nervous system of some neurodegenerative diseases. However, TDP-43 aggregation is also a sensitive and specific pathologic feature found in a family of degenerative muscle diseases termed inclusion body myopathy (IBM). TDP-43 aggregates from ALS and FTD brain lysates may serve as self-templating aggregate seeds in vitro and in vivo, supporting a prion-like spread from cell to cell...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S): To develop a novel deep ensemble learning model for accurate prediction of brain metastasis(BM) local control outcomes following stereotactic radiosurgery(SRS). MATERIALS/METHODS: A total of 114 BMs from 82 patients were evaluated, including 26 BMs that developed biopsy-confirmed local failure post-SRS. The SRS spatial dose distribution(Dmap ) of each BM was registered to the planning contrast-enhanced T1(T1-CE) MR. Axial slices of the Dmap , T1-CE, and PTV segmentation(PTVseg ) intersecting the BM center were extracted within a fixed field-of-view determined by the V60% in Dmap ...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Gliomas are aggressive brain tumors with a poor prognosis. Assessing treatment response is challenging because magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may not distinguish true progression (TP) from pseudoprogression (PsP). This review aims to discuss imaging techniques and liquid biopsies used to distinguish TP from PsP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review synthesizes existing literature to examine advances in imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance diffusion imaging (MRDI), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) MRI, and liquid biopsies, for identifying TP or PsP through tumor markers and tissue characteristics...

Various opportunistic infections develop during immunodeficiency due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The treatment options for malignant lymphoma (ML) and toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) are completely different; therefore, their discrimination is critical. A 25-year-old female of foreign nationality had been experiencing headaches for several weeks and suddenly developed convulsions. Brain computed tomography revealed multiple intracranial lesions; therefore, the patient was referred to the neurosurgery department...

EGFR exon 20 (EGFR Ex20) insertion mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are insensitive to traditional EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Mobocertinib is the only approved TKI specifically designed to target EGFR Ex20. We performed an international, real-world safety and efficacy analysis on patients with EGFR Ex20-positive NSCLC enrolled in a mobocertinib early access program. We explored the mechanisms of resistance by analyzing postprogression biopsies, as well as cross-resistance to amivantamab...

Accurately defining glioma infiltration is crucial for optimizing radiotherapy and surgery, but glioma infiltration is heterogeneous and MRI imperfectly defines the tumor extent. Currently, it is impossible to determine the tumor infiltration gradient within a FLAIR signal. O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET)-PET often reveals high-grade glioma infiltration beyond contrast-enhancing areas on MRI. Here, we studied FET uptake dynamics in tumor and normal brain structures by dual-timepoint (10 min and 40-60 min post-injection) acquisition to optimize analysis protocols for defining glioma infiltration...

Effective diagnosis, prognostication, and management of CNS malignancies traditionally involves invasive brain biopsies that pose significant risk to the patient. Sampling and molecular profiling of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a safer, rapid, and noninvasive alternative that offers a snapshot of the intracranial milieu while overcoming the challenge of sampling error that plagues conventional brain biopsy. Although numerous biomarkers have been identified, translational challenges remain, and standardization of protocols is necessary...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Molecular biomarker identification increasingly influences the treatment planning of pediatric low-grade neuroepithelial tumors (PLGNTs). We aimed to develop and validate a radiomics-based ADC signature predictive of the molecular status of PLGNTs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective bi-institutional study, we searched the PACS for baseline brain MRIs from children with PLGNTs. Semiautomated tumor segmentation on ADC maps was performed using the semiautomated level tracing effect tool with 3D Slicer...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease, pathologically characterized by TDP-43 aggregates. Recent evidence has been indicated that phosphorylated TDP-43 (pTDP-43) is present not only in motor neurons but also in muscle tissues. However, it is unclear whether testing pTDP-43 aggregation in muscle tissue would assist in the diagnosis of ALS. We propose three key questions: (i) Is aggregation of pTDP-43 detectable in routine biopsied muscles? (ii) Can detection of pTDP-43 aggregation discriminate between ALS and non-ALS patients? (iii) Can pTDP-43 aggregation be observed in the early stages of ALS? We conducted a diagnostic study comprising 2 groups: an ALS group in which 18 cases underwent muscle biopsy screened from a registered ALS cohort consisting of 802 patients and a non-ALS control group, in which we randomly selected 54 muscle samples from a biospecimen bank of 684 patients...